The present invention relates to medical accessories and more particularly to an automatic skin puncturing system that is operable with one hand to allow an individual paralyzed on one side to take a blood sample from a finger tip for use in blood glucose level monitoring.
Many individuals suffer strokes and other paralyzing afflictions that render them paralyzed on one side of their bodies. Such paralysis limits the activities that can be performed by these individuals. In most cases, individuals with the use of only one half of their bodies cannot perform the physicals steps necessary to use a lancet to take a blood sample from their finger tip. Such a limitation can be life threatening for individuals who must monitor their blood glucose level on a regular basis in order to prevent diabetic comas, and other serious consequence of out of limit blood glucose levels. It wold be desirable, therefore, to have an automatic skin puncturing system that was operable with one hand for allowing individuals with the use of only a single hand to take the blood samples needed to monitor their blood glucose levels.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide an automatic skin puncturing system that is operable with one hand to allow an individual paralyzed on one side to take a blood sample from a finger tip for use in blood glucose level monitoring.
Accordingly, an automatic skin puncturing system is provided. The an automatic skin puncturing system includes a housing assembly, a power connecting jack, a battery holder, an indexable, motor driven turntable, an index switch, a reed switch, a lancet lifting assembly, a disposable lancet carousel cartridge, and an electronic, micro-processor controlled circuit; the housing assembly including a bottom housing portion, a removable housing carousel cover portion and a securing knob; the bottom housing portion having a puncturing system cavity defined therein and accessible through a cartridge positioning opening formed through a top bottom housing portion surface, a triggering magnet opening formed through the top bottom housing portion surface at a location adjacent to the cartridge positioning opening, a power connecting jack opening, a battery compartment access cover, a counter display, an on/off switch, and a number of nonskid foot pads; the removable housing carousel cover portion being sized and securable to the bottom housing portion in a manner to cover the cartridge positioning opening with the securing knob, the removable housing carousel cover portion including a pivoting lancet lifting assembly trigger switch actuator having a top switch surface portion that is hingedly connected to and pivots with respect to a top cover surface of the removable housing carousel cover portion and a reed switch triggering magnet connected to a rod mechanically carried by the top switch surface portion that is positioned through the triggering magnet opening of the bottom housing portion when the top switch surface portion is oriented in parallel with the top cover surface of the removable housing carousel cover portion, the top switch surface portion including a finger positioning indentation having a lancet passage opening formed therethrough; the power connecting jack being positioned within the puncturing system cavity of the housing and adjacent the power connecting jack opening; the battery holder being positioned within the puncturing system cavity of the housing within a battery compartment and accessible by battery compartment access cover; the indexable, motor driven turntable being rotatable within the puncturing system cavity of the housing on a bearing pivot point extending upward from a bottom surface of the housing, the indexable, motor driven turntable being driven by a dc motor having a gear in connection with a perimeter rack gear formed around the underside of the turntable, a keyed carousel cartridge drive shaft extending upwardly from a center thereof, and a perimeter side edge having a number of index switch roller indentations formed thereon; the index switch being positioned within the puncturing system cavity of the housing and with respect to the indexable, motor driven turntable such that a roller of the index switch rolls along the perimeter side edge indexable, motor driven turntable; the index switch having open index switch contacts when the roller is positioned in one of the number of index switch roller indentations and closed open index switch contacts when the roller is not positioned in one of the number of index switch roller indentations; the reed switch being positioned within the housing at a location such that the reed switch triggering magnet is position in a location to close a pair of reed switch contacts when a user pushes down on the top switch surface portion; the lancet lifting assembly being positioned within the puncturing system cavity of the housing and including a main plate and a linear sliding, wedge shaped lift rod raising cam connected to the end of a lancet lifting assembly solenoid attached to the main plate; the lancet lifting assembly solenoid moving the wedge shaped lift rod raising cam along a linear path between a first cam position and a second cam position; the main plate having an adjustment wheel contact structure extending from a solenoid side end thereof; the main plate being supported by a main plate support fulcrum positioned under a cam side end of the main plate and contact between the adjustment wheel contact structure and an angled undersurface of a lancet depth adjustment wheel rotatably mounted to the bottom housing portion such that a portion of the lancet depth adjustment wheel extends out of the bottom housing portion, the height of the cam side end of the main plate being adjustable by positioning the lancet depth adjustment wheel; the disposable lancet carousel cartridge including a cartridge housing having a carousel hub formed through the center thereof having a key way adapted for receiving the upwardly projecting keyed carousel cartridge drive shaft of the indexable motor driven turntable, an outer perimeter upper cartridge surface having a number of spaced lancet cartridge openings, and a number of lancet assemblies each with a lancet positioned beneath one of the number of spaced lancet cartridge openings and a lancet lift rod having a first end connected to the lancet and a second lift rod end slidably positioned through and past a cartridge bottom surface a distance such that a force pushing upward on the second lift rod end causes a puncturing tip of the lancet to be raised through and past its respective spaced lancet cartridge opening; the cartridge bottom surface being positioned above the linear path of the linear sliding, wedge shaped lift rod raising cam a distance such that, when a second lift rod end is positioned above the second cam position, movement of the wedge shaped lift rod raising cam from the first cam position to the second cam position results in contact between the wedge shaped lift rod raising cam and the second lift rod end sufficient to cause the puncturing tip of the lancet attached to the second lift rod end to be raised through and past its respective spaced lancet cartridge opening; the electronic, micro-processor controlled control circuit being in power receiving connection with the power connecting jack and the battery holder, in controlling connection with the lancet lifting assembly solenoid, the turntable motor drive circuit, and the counter display, and in input receiving connection from the counter reset switch, the on/off switch, and the reed switch; the turntable motor drive circuit being in controlling connection with the turntable drive motor and in input receiving connection with the turntable indexing switch; the electronic, micro-processor controlled control circuit being programmed to a) move the indexable, motor driven turntable until the puncturing tip of a lancet in alignment with the lancet passage opening when turned on with the on/off switch; b) wait until a trigger signal is received from the reed switch; c) operate the lancet lifting assembly solenoid to move the lift rod raising cam from the first cam position to the second cam position and then back to the first cam position, in response to receiving the trigger signal; d) move the indexable, motor driven turntable such that no puncturing tip of a lancet is in alignment with the lancet passage opening; and e) decrement the lancet counter display.